He re-entered the game with 7 minutes, 8 seconds remaining and immediately started taking over.

Irving, fresh off his win in the Three-Point Contest on All-Star weekend, converted 6 of 9 shots in the fourth quarter. He was 13 of 22 from the field in the game, 2 of 5 from behind the arc.

"You can kind of see it coming," Scott said. "He gets a little bit of a gleam in his eye. He hits one or two and he kind of gets going. You could see in the fourth quarter he was just really aggressive. I thought he did a great job of getting himself some space, getting to the basket, finishing, making shots. He just kind of put us on his back."

Did he ever.

The Cavs outscored the Hornets, 37-31, in the fourth quarter.

"It came strictly from the trust my teammates have in me that I'll make plays," Irving said. "The fourth quarter is winning time. Some shots went in for me."

He mentioned before the game he was a bit sluggish. Perhaps it's time to stop with that line of reasoning.

"I felt good," he said. "I felt amazing."

The Cavs (17-37) committed just eight turnovers in the game, none in the fourth quarter.

Irving added five rebounds, seven assists and two steals. He recorded his 11th 30-point game of the season.

Rookie guard Dion Waiters fired in 16 points and dished out three assists, while swingman C.J. Miles had 11 points off the bench.

The Cavs, who also snapped a three-game losing streak, shot 49.4 percent from the field. The Hornets shot 48.7 percent.

Power forward Tristan Thompson finished with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. He was 2 of 8 from the field and 5 of 12 from the foul line.

Scott wasn't thrilled with the way Thompson played. He seemed more intent of taking it to Hornets rookie forward Anthony Davis than he was playing within the flow of the offense.

"He tried to force it," Scott said. "He got away from being Tristan."

Alonzo Gee and Tyler Zeller each had 10 points for the Cavs.

Scott said he brought the 6-foot-3, 191-pound Irving into the game a little early.

"It was still nip-and-tuck at that point," Scott said.

The Cavs shot just three free throws in the first half. However, they attempted 31 in the second half.

For the Hornets (19-36), Toledo native Brian Roberts matched his career high with 17 points. Center Robin Lopez had 15 points before fouling out with 3:21 left in the game. Point guard Greivis Vasquez added 13 points and a game-high eight assists.

"(Irving) had a really good game," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "I think for the most part, we gave in by allowing him to go to the basket. You've got to take a hard foul and make him shoot free throws."

The Hornets outrebounded the Cavs, 39-34. They've now lost two in a row since the All-Star break.